Crack Comics was first published, by Quality Comics, in May 1940. It was in this first issue that The Black Condor debuted, the story written by Will Eisner and drawn by Lou Fine.

Richard Grey Jr. is a baby when his parents, Major Richard Grey and his wife are murdered whilst on an archaeological expedition in Mongolia. The ambushers led by Gali Kan, kill all the party apart from the Richard Grey Jr, who is rescued by a condor. He is brought up alongside her chicks and with difficulty learns to fly.

After reaching adulthood Richard meets a hermit monk called Father Pierre, who soon is also killed by Gali Kan. After killing Gali Kan, Richard travels to America where he discovers that Senator Thomas Wright, his exact double has been murdered. He assumes the dead man's identity and begins his fight against evil, dressed as the Black Condor.

Another regular feature was The Clock, created by cartoonist George Brenner. The Clock, who was one of the first masked comic book characters, would leave a calling card with the words 'The Clock Has Struck'.

Other characters in the pages of Crack Comics included 'Alias The Spider' created by Paul Gustavson and perhaps the most bizarre of all superheroes Madam Fatal, created by Art Pinajian.

Madam Fatal's real identity is a retired actor named Richard Stanton who dresses up as an old woman to fight crime and surprises the villains with his strength. The only one who knows of his secret identity is his pet, a parrot named Hamlet.

Crack Comics ran until issue #62, published in September 1949, after which it was renamed Crack Western.

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